How IT Departments Can Get Up to Speed with Windows 10

Device Compatibility

Is Windows 10 compatible with your devices?

Windows 10 might run on all types of devices such as phones, desktops, and (in 2016) servers, but it only runs on the latest versions of these devices. So the IT department needs to analyze the current IT estate to work out if the Windows 10 upgrade needs to be tied to a hardware refresh.

Microsoft has a simple Windows 10 upgrade tool that will analyze desktops and laptops and tell you if a device is compatible. So the IT department can run this across a representative set of devices and compile a table of corporate devices that are compatible and those that are not. This process will most likely vary wildly between IT departments due to their differing approaches to OS customization. Some might use the Windows installed by the laptop manufacturer while others will build and customize their own Windows configurations. There are also other factors that affect the Windows 10 upgrade based on hardware, such as Windows Hello. This needs a 3D infrared camera so it's likely that use of this feature will require a hardware refresh.

Microsoft's Windows software is ubiquitous. In fact, there are over a billion installations worldwide – on phones, desktops and laptops, servers, tablets, and in the cloud. Historically, there have been different versions of Windows for each device but, with Windows 10, Microsoft is simplifying things with a single OS for all devices. The main reason for this is because it helps to deliver on the mission statement that Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, announced earlier this year, "...to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."

Having one OS for all devices will help to deliver on Nadella and Microsoft's productivity mission because applications should run anywhere with little to no modification. Imagine using the same Office application on your phone, desktop and in the cloud. And corporate IT departments will benefit because licensing, packaging, deployment and management will all be simplified, reducing complexity and cost.

This simplicity comes with some changes, though. So in addition to getting up to speed on the Windows 10 improvements and the benefits, IT has to come to grips with how Windows is managed on a day-to-day basis. New features for security and sharing have also been added in Windows 10 to further increase the benefits, which IT again needs to get up to speed with. For Microsoft to give this simpler experience to enterprises, it has taken over responsibility for some of the operational complexity – an example is with patching. Rather than asking IT departments to pick and choose patches, Microsoft will instead roll out the required changes. Enterprise IT can still control this, but should they?

In this slideshow, Roy Eldar, vice president of Customer Service at SysAid, has identified five questions IT departments need to ask themselves in order to determine if they are up to speed on Windows 10, and if not, what they can do to get there.

NOTE: Windows Server isn't out until 2016, so this article covers the desktop software that has been available since July 2015.